NHL COVID-19 protocols: Teams can suspend unvaccinated players for missing time

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Athletic

The NHL and the NHL Players' Association have finalized COVID-19 protocols for the 2021-22 season and will allow teams to suspend unvaccinated players who are "unable to participate in club activities," according to a copy of the protocols obtained by The Athletic.

The terms for suspension include situations where unvaccinated players cannot travel to or from an area because of local, provincial/state and/or federal regulations. Those players would "forfeit the equivalent of one day's pay for each day" they are unable to participate in club activities.

Exceptions to the policy include someone who is unvaccinated due to medical or religious reasons. If a fully vaccinated player tests positive for COVID-19, or he is unvaccinated due to medical or religious reasons, his sickness will be treated as "a hockey-related injury" under the collective bargaining agreement.

Unvaccinated players without exemptions will not be paid if a team establishes "on the basis of a balance of the probabilities, that the player failed to comply with the terms of this protocol in a manner that was reasonably related to his contraction of COVID-19 and/or any resulting or related illness."

Read more: https://theathletic.com/news/nhl-covid-19-protocols-teams-can-suspend-unvaccinated-players-for-missing-time/sjcpp4vwgsWf

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I heard about this on the radio this morning. All the pro sports teams, as a minimum, should incorporate this type of thing (I know some like the NFL plans to penalize teams with a game forfeit). In the case of the NHL, since the U.S. and Canadian teams are playing in each others' countries, the protocols really need to be honed (and I expect the same "cross border" considerations would apply to baseball, although there is just the one non-U.S. team now - Toronto's).

There are a number of high profile anti-vax sports stars prancing around talking about "personal choices" and IMHO, that is the epitome of "poor sportsmanship".

[Escurumbele]

1. "Exceptions to the policy include someone who is unvaccinated due to medical or religious reasons."

The hell with religion! F^*&^ religion is part of the problem, and you are going to exempt people because of religious beliefs? Everyone who doesn't want to vaccinate will claim their religious beliefs do not allow them to take the vaccine, even if they haven't ever or for a long time set foot at a church.

F^*(& religion is always in the middle of progress, of logic.

So allow non-vaccinated to infect and in some cases kill other people in the name of religion? What kind of stupid logic is that?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. I remember reading an analysis piece about "religious" exeptions

and apparently there are very very few that actually forbid vaccinations and apparently many of the mandates that include the option don't just hand-wave anyone who "objects" without true proof (outside of some of the "usual" states that we all know and love ).

I found a different research analysis by Pew on vaccinations in general - literally updated just before COVID-19 hit (due to the big measles outbreak in NYC) - https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/06/28/nearly-all-states-allow-religious-exemptions-for-vaccinations/

[Escurumbele]

3. I do understand there are religions that prohibit vaccinations, but the NHL is not a religious

organization, and they need to weigh the health of the country against religious ideology, and in my view the health of the country comes first.

Thank you, I will read the information you sent on the link.

My thing is that we, as a country, need to stop catering to religion as much as we do. There are so many exemptions and benefits to religious organizations, and to me it seems that it is a one-way-street where they get all the benefits, but religious leaders continue to get involved in politics. Either penalties are brought against those leaders and religious institutions that bring politics into and outside their churches, or we simply go ahead and take away their tax exemptions and allow them to go freely into politics because right now they have the tax exemptions as well as their "free speech" into politics, it doesn't seem fair. Also, the tax exemption has brought a lot of shady businesses, a lot of pastors are there for the money only, they don't contribute to their communities, all the money goes in their pockets.

When people stop believing in invisible things and instead focus on visible ones, like their families, their neighbours, the planet, etc. that is when things will get better. People need to start working with what is real, and leave all the fantasy behind.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Well the purported "beauty" of this country

is that one can practice any "belief system" that they want or none at all (that's the First Amendment and in fact is the very first part of of the section before the "speech" or "press" or "peaceably assemble" or "petition" ) -

First Amendment

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment

The problem is the uneven enforcement of that and making clear distinctions, since the majority of citizens claim some "religion" but most are not practicing, although we end up "hearing from" those who are at the extreme end of "practice" because they tend to be "squeaky wheels".

[BradAllison]

11. Unfortunately it likely falls under a civil rights issue

The NHL isn't making this the exemption, its almost certainly their lawyers telling them to.

[Escurumbele]

4. Good article, thank you. Every state should do the same.

The hell with religion, the country must become healthy, that needs to be the priority.

"Minnesota, allows for a broader exemption based on personal beliefs but does not explicitly mention religion."...The governor is a Democrat, how can that be?

I can never understand a parent not doing whatever they need to do to protect their children, how can religion bastardize that natural instinct from a parent?

[cinematicdiversions]

8. Until recently freedom from vaccinating your kids was very popular in some progressive circles.,

Well, okay, it is still popular in some progressive circles, but we don't like to talk about that at this moment. Makes for a messy narrative.

Still, that is why Minnesota has that law. (And California recently had to overturn theirs)

[turbinetree]

5. "he is unvaccinated due to medical or religious reasons, his sickness will be treated as

"a hockey-related injury" under the collective bargaining agreement."

This is not a hockey -related injury.....it is the stupidity of the hockey/ staff and there BS of not getting a shot.

The only time I can remember ever getting an exemption for religious purposed was during the Vietnam War and that sometimes was not good enough.......sometimes


They "all" (hockey) got shots prior to them going into any school when they were younger, you know them being protected and those around them were protected, and they had to be vaccinated and show proof of said vaccination......this is a insult to the intelligence of the fans like myself

[BumRushDaShow]

7. I had been looking for the article I had seen yesterday that mentioned few religions

prohibit vaccinations - and was trying to find it again this morning and thanks to you, I just did!!

https://www.vumc.org/health-wellness/news-resource-articles/immunizations-and-religion

I also found another related one about the subject - https://www.historyofvaccines.org/content/blog/religion-vaccination-confusion

What does happen however, is that certain "sects" of religions (or often, their "leaders" or "counsels of elders" ) proclaim an objection using some grounds that they manage to shoehorn into their belief system. And it's often in cases where those sects are actually isolated from society as a whole, living and/or working in their own compounds or communities, and this allows for proliferation of other beliefs beyond what their actual religion subscribes to.

For example (where I had posted an article link earlier in the thread), the Hasidic communities in NYC who refused vaccinations and ended up with a severe measles outbreak (and in a related situation while searching for religious-based objections, saw that Israel had been battling the misinformation among their Ultra Orthodox communities - https://www.npr.org/2021/04/22/988812635/how-israel-persuaded-reluctant-ultra-orthodox-jews-to-get-vaccinated-against-cov).

You also have the same that has happened with the Amish communities, another group who tend to live/congregate primarily among themselves and thus believe this keeps them free from harm - https://apnews.com/article/religion-amish-coronavirus-pandemic-health-463b17f8a855f932762e4fd23e06c156

But ultimately what happens is that all they need is "one" person who ventures out of the isolated community, gets infected, and then returns - essentially creating a super-spreader event.

So when it comes to trying to battle the misinformation that proliferates, the truth has to be framed in a manner that is digestable to them AND usually needs to come from one of their "leaders" - which, as an example, is what Pope Francis did for the Catholic Church by publicly attesting to getting vaccinated (despite the fact that there is no prohibition within their doctrine regarding vaccinations but various denominations of it have gone hog wild with the CTs).

[turbinetree]

9. Wado....thank you for the links

you also have been a big help....

[BumRushDaShow]

10. You are most welcome

Was glad to find that link I had been looking for.